The Camping Trip
by SoLivia
Summary: CHAPTER FOUR IS UP! The Lowes take Caitlin on her first camping trip. But what they had planned goes airley and they find themselves in an fanasty land called
1. Arriving

The Lowe's family tailor stopped in the middle of the woods. The drivers side   
door opened and an middle thirty year old man stepped out. He stretched his   
back and sighed long and deep. "Well gang here we are. My favorite camping   
site that I used to go with my father."  
  
The passenger side door opened the man's wife who also is mid thirty's   
stepped out and also stretched her back. "Hmm why has it taken you so long to   
bring us here hmm Jim?"  
  
"Yea dad. Why did you have to wait until I am fourteen to bring me here   
huh?" and young teenage boy grumbled as he stepped out from behind the drivers   
side.  
  
"Please Griffin; why ruin an perfectly nice spot with an squalling baby."   
The door behind the passenger side opened and an thirteen year old girl   
stepped out.  
  
"Ok everyone I want everyone to take the time to be quiet stretch and get in   
better moods please." Jim said looking back on his family.  
  
"Sorry Jim. You are right." The girl looked over at Griffin and smiled   
softy "Sorry Griff."  
  
"Yea that's ok Caitlin." Griffin smiled back at Caitlin.  
  
They both obeyed Jim and stretched and kept their mouths shut for an few   
minutes.  
  
The woman looked over at her husband and smiled an soft private smile. She   
looked back at her son and her niece and laughed softly inside herself. She   
turned her face back to face forward and relaxed for the first time in hours.  
  
"Hey Dori?" Dori heard from behind her.  
  
Dori turned and saw Caitlin "yes Caitlin."  
  
"Is it safe to talk and move about yet." Caitlin looked over at Jim.  
  
Jim burst out laughing.  
  
"You can take that as an yes." Dori said giggling along with her husband.  
  
Griffin and Caitlin bursted out laughing along with the adults.

  
  


**********

  
  


Jim rubbed his hands together and said "Griffin you are in charge of showing Caitlin the ropes of camping." He smiled at his only son.

  
  


"Sure no problem Dad." Griffin smiled back at his father. He looked over at his cousin. "Come on Cait let me show you how to put up an tent." He grabbed his and his cousin's tent from the trunk of the tailor.

  
  


Caitlin sighed deeply and put on her headphones and pushed play and loud music blared from the headphones.

  
  


"CAITLIN!" Dori shouted. She sighed deeply and went over to her second cousin and pulled the headphones off of Caitlin's ears.

  
  


"HEY!" Caitlin shouted as she swung around ready to fight.

  
  


"Hey Caitlin it's only me." Dori stepped backward and put up her hands.

  
  


"Sorry Dori. But never do that again." Caitlin stepped back and loosed her nerves. "I hate it when people do that."

  
  


Dori stepped back over to Caitlin and put her arm across her shoulder and squeezed gently "I know sweaty. I'm sorry for starting you like that." 

  
  


Caitlin shrugged her shoulder. She didn't want to let Dori know that she liked having her arm across her shoulders. *Just how my mom used to calm me down.* She wasn't ready for the Lowe's to know that she was getting comfortable with them. *Just in case if something happens to make me go packing.*

  
  


"Come on Caitlin let's go put up the tents." Griffin said standing off somewhat. He wanted to get all the grudge work done so that he could go off somewhere and write.

  
  


"Coming." Caitlin said as she shrugged from Dori's hand and walked over to her cousin.

  
  


"We will join you in an few minutes." Jim said as he began to get oragianed at the tailor's door.

  
  


Dori watched her son and second cousin walk off to set up camp. She went to join her husband at the tailor.

  
  


TOO BE CONTINUE ...............  



	2. Getting things squared away

"This looks like an ideal spot for our camp." Griffin smiled as he stopped next to the only bench in site.

  
  


Caitlin just rolled her eyes and stared stonily off into the distance.

  
  


"Caitlin you promised Mom that you would get in an better attitude." Griffin pointed out as he saw that his cousin went right back to her bad attitude. "Sides that I'm sick and tired of this 'I don't need anyone' attitude of yours. You need to grow up."

  
  


"Shut up Griffin Lowe. You don't know anything about it. You have always had an loving home your entire life. You weren't be able to survive the streets for an second." Caitlin said hotly looking angrily over at Griffin.

  
  


"Yes I can and you know it Caitlin." Griffin shot back equally angry. He hated it when Caitlin put him down like that. Sure he had been lucky in life; his parents were still alive and they loved each other and him. But that wasn't an crime. But to Caitlin it was. "Anyway let's get the tents up all ready." Griffin pointed to where he dropped the tents when they first arrived at the spot.

  
  


"What ever loser." Caitlin said and walked to the tent that was assigned to her and she walked an little distance and got to work at setting it up.

  
  


"I'm not an loser." Griffin said after her. He waited for her to respond but when she didn't he shrugged his shoulders and walked to get his tent and he walked toward Caitlin but stopped an foot away from her and was soon getting his tent ready to go up. 

  
  


Caitlin was of course having major problems with her tent. She after all never been camping before in her life. She didn't want to admit to Griffin that she was having trouble so she kept dodging ahead.

  
  


Griffin soon had his tent up and ready to bring his stuff in and he turned to look at Caitlin and saw that she was having major problems. He walked over to her and began to help her silently.

  
  


Soon the two cousins had her tent up and went and began to set up Jim and Dori's tent for them.

  
  


"Wonder where mom and dad are. They should've been here by now." Griffin said to break the silence.

  
  


Caitlin just shrugged her shoulders.

  
  


*****

  
  


"The kids need to learn to get along better." Dori said to Jim as soon as Griffin and Caitlin were out of sight.

  
  


"Like that's ever gonna happen." Jim quipped.

  
  


"Why shouldn't it?" Dori frowned at her husband's back.

  
  


"Griffin and Caitlin are more than cousins now; they are like brother and sister. All I know is siblings aren't apposed to get along all the time." Jim said with an slight laugh. "Look at my sister and I. We still don't get along with each other."

  
  


"But sometimes you do." Dori said.

  
  


"Yea but hardly. We have to work at it." Jim said with an slight smile as he stepped back to the solid ground. "You as an only child don't know what it is like to have an brother or an sister."

  
  


"I wish I did. But my parents decided they didn't want more kids." Dori said softly.

  
  


Jim put his arm around his wife and pulled her gently to her and kissed her head softly. He knew that she was always sad when thinking of her parents. He himself have never met his in laws. They had died when Dori was still an teenager. *Just an few years older than Caitlin is now.* "I wish I could have known them." He said softly.

  
  


"You would have loved them and they would have loved you." Dori said softly as she looked into her husband's eye. She pulled away after an few more moments and said with an laugh. "We better go and join Griff and Caitlin knowing them they might be killing each other 'bout now."

  
  


"You know it." Jim laughed as he bent down to get the things he got out of the camper. "Seriously don't worry so much about 'em Dori. As time goes on and they get more comfortable with each other they will come to realize that they need each other. The bond between now is tight it will be even tighter as time passes."

  
  


"I know you are right Jim. I just hate it when they fight. I want Caitlin to fit in with us so much that I don't ever want her to leave." Dori said not for the first time. She said it when she found out that her second cousin needed an home.

  
  


Jim held out an hand and Dori took it after she picked up some of the lighter stuff that Jim had left on the ground.

  
  


**********

  
  


Caitlin and Griffin fistened setting up Jim and Dori's tent and were sitting on the bench not talking and not looking at each other when Jim and Dori came upon them.

  
  


"Hey." Caitlin said with an nod. She still had her headphones on her ears but the music was playing softly and it was not her usual style but classical.

  
  


"What are you listing to?" Dori asked with an slight smile. She knew it was rap, or rock 'n' roll otherwise Caitlin would have been blasting it.

  
  


"Just some classical." Caitlin smiled back at Dori. "It's actually pretty good. My mom used to listen to it all the time."

  
  


"Yea I remember that about your mother. We used to go to an few concerts with our grandmother when we were about your age." Dori smiled back to that time.

  
  


"I never knew. Mom never talked much about Great Grandmother or about anyone in the family." Caitlin said with an slight frown.

  
  


"Yea your mother left in an bad way. But I know that she always thought about the family." Dori said with an slight frown to her lips. 

  
  


The woman and the girl faced each other with sad frowns on their faces.

  
  


"Griffin you and Caitlin did an wonderful job setting up the tents." Jim said proudly looking at all three of the tents. He wanted to try to get the mood back into an good one and try to leave the sadness for an later date.

  
  


"Thanks dad. Caitlin did an pretty good job seeing how this is her first time camping and all." Griffin smiled at his cousin hoping that she would get into an happier mood.

  
  


"Thanks Griff." Caitlin smiled back at Griffin. She knew what he and Jim were doing.

  
  


"Yes Caitlin and Griff you did an excellent job." Dori also smiled and breathed easier now that the sad topic was off the table for the time being. *I have to tell Caitlin more about her mother when she was her age and about the family.*

  
  


"So let's get this gear put away and than I'll show you all my faviote spots that I had with my father." Jim clapped his hands together.

  
  


The family put everything in it's proper place in an matter of minutes and than they set off for an nice hike.

  
  


*******

  
  


*Excellent. Just the right family for us.* an unseen thing thought as it watched the Lowe family walk away from the camp site.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. The Hike

"Ready for the hike?" Jim grinned at his family.

  
  


"You bet." Griffin grinned back at his father. He grabbed his video camera and made sure he had an blank tape in it. "Let's rock 'n' roll."

  
  


Caitlin just rolled her eyes.

  
  


Dori looked over at her cousin and sighed. *It's going to be an long weekend.*

  
  


Jim held his hand out for his wife to take and together they led the way to an well worn path to the right of their camping site.

  
  


Griffin followed his parents with the camera's eyepiece at his eye.

  
  


Caitlin slammed her headphones on her ears and turned the music on medium. She remembered Dori's comment about not having it blaring. She decided she didn't want to get into an huge fight and have Jim and Dori take her music from her.

  
  


*********

  
  


The mysteries thing followed Caitlin with it's eyes and grinned wolflike. *She's the one. She's the key.

  
  


********

  
  


"Hey Caitlin why don't you take those off for an bit." Jim turned sideways at Caitlin who was walking at his right side.

  
  


Caitlin sighed and obeyed. She tapped the OFF button and suddenly she heard nothing but the outdoors sounds. *This isn't too bad ...... I think I can handle it an little at an time.* She brushed her head phones and felt them wrap around her neck.

  
  


Griffin moved his camera too and for trying to get the best angle for some lands shots for his personal web page that he will be beginning in an few weeks time.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Contiuning the Hike

The Lowe's and Caitlin didn't realize that something was keeping an close watch on them as they walked deeper and deeper into the words.

  
  


Caitlin finally turned her headset down to just having her mother's favorite composer as background music. She listened to Jim talk about his childhood with his parents.

  
  


Dori allowed Griffin to walk beside his father. She wanted to walk beside Caitlin anyhow to try to bond with her second cousin some more. "So Cait are you enjoying the camping trip so far?"

  
  


"Yea it's an blast." Caitlin rolled her eyes skyward. "What with the whole fighting in the car and the setting up the camp and now this little nature walk." She waved her hand around her.

  
  


Griffin looked back at the two women. "Yea I bet growing up in the streets you don't see the beauty of the real world do ya."

  
  


"You call this the real world? Ha the streets are the real world computer geek." Caitlin snorted.

  
  


"Caitlin... what have we told you about calling Griffin names?" Jim stopped and turned to Caitlin with his arms across his chest.

  
  


Caitlin stopped walking and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not allowed to. That it's not polite." 

  
  


"And ..." Griffin smirked at Caitlin quite enjoying her getting in trouble once again.

  
  


"Griffin you are no help. Let your father and me handle this." Dori frowned at her son.

  
  


"Sorry mom. Sorry Caitlin." Griffin smiled softly at Caitlin.

  
  


Caitlin jerked her head. She rolled her eyes knowing what the Lowe's were expecting of her. "Yea sorry about that computer geek talk." 

  
  


"Hey not an problem sis... uh Caitlin." Griffin blushed slightly at his mishap.

  
  


Caitlin frowned at the 'sis' comment and closed her eyes. She didn't see Dori's eyes light up with sudden tears and Jim's goofy grin. When she opened her eyes again she saw the Lowe's with straight faces. "So what else do you have to show us Jim?" She said in the silence.

  
  


"Follow me and I'll show you." Jim turned and began once again to lead the way down the well worn path deeper into the forest.

  
  


********

  
  


*Almost there. They are going right toward's it.* The mysteries thing wanted to leap with joy.

  
  



End file.
